Buying my (First?) Loop Boat

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After years of research and trying to figure out what I wanted and whether I really wanted it, I take the first steps to buying a boat.

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By the time I got back from my ICW trip with Captain John — and yes, I know I never finished blogging about it, but I really hope to do so with whatever I remember — I was pretty much decided that I wanted to buy my own boat and do all or part of the Loop at my own pace.

Captain Paul had been a little too quick and Captain John had been a little too slow. I realized that as a crew member, I was just along for the ride and had little or no decision-making capabilities. The only way to do the trip the way I wanted to was to be my own Captain. That meant getting a boat.

Ranger Tugs

I had already decided that I wanted a Ranger Tug. In my opinion, Ranger gives owners the most bang for their buck with well-designed, time tested designs. I would be able to buy a relatively new boat that met my needs without breaking my budget. (More on that in a moment.)

Originally, I thought I wanted a 2018 or later R-27. I specify the year here because that’s when Ranger Tug completely reworked the R-27, reorganizing the interior to make it somewhat roomier while replacing the inboard Volvo Penta engine with an outboard motor. I thought an outboard was smarter because if something went wrong, it could be repaired without bringing the whole boat in. I even went to the Ranger Tug R-27 factory in Kent, WA, where they graciously let me climb aboard a boat that was nearly done. A few weeks later, the sales manager called with a great offer on an end of year boat that hadn’t been sold. A really great offer. Unfortunately, I wasn’t ready to buy — it’s a huge step for me. So I passed it up and when I was ready about a year later, the price had gone up considerably. I was out of luck.

Then, in August 2021, I did part of the great loop with Capt Paul in a 2017 R-27. He pointed out that the newer boat’s features seemed more in line with what a day-tripper or someone who spent a lot of time at marinas might want. I didn’t realize at the time that hot water was made by the diesel engine (when not plugged in) and I was already turned off by the electric (?!) grill on the aft deck (referred to as the cockpit, which I, as a pilot, still find confusing). Yes, it made more sense to me — someone who hoped to spend a lot of time at anchor, partially to save money — to have a boat that depended a lot less on a shore hookup than the R-27.

And then there was the space issue. The R-27 is just 8 1/2 feet wide. Take some of that width for the gunwales outside and you’ve got a very narrow interior space. Yes, it would be easy to tow on a trailer, but, at the same time, it severely limited the living space. I remember how the three of us had to shuffle ourselves around when one of us had to move between the front and back of the boat. It was seriously tight quarters for three people. And wouldn’t a wider boat be more stable in rough water?

In spring 2021, I had looked at Kismet, a 2018 R-29 originally owned by Jim and Lisa Favors. They took Kismet all over the US on a trailer and wrote a book and blog about their travels. The boat was in excellent shape, being sold with some improvements by its second owner only a few months after he bought it. I realized, as I walked around its interior and sat up front for a drive out the marina and back, that it would be a very good boat for me. It was bigger than the R-27 without being crazy big.

But at the time, I was still budgeting myself for something priced around an R-27 — that’s under $200K for a relatively newer boat. Kismet was considerably more. I had a friend with me who was also looking at boats and hoped in an offhand way that we could do some kind of partnership deal on it. But he was definitely not interested in a Ranger Tug (or the Loop, for that matter).

So I let it go. And kicked myself for about a year.

This spring (2022), I was on a 1985 Carver 36 Aft Cabin with Capt John. It was a very spacious boat with two sleeping cabins, two full heads, and plenty of space for lounging, eating, cooking, etc. But what it also had was a fly bridge — a helm upstairs. It was fully enclosed in canvas and plastic, so it had plenty of protection from the elements. So much, in fact, that Capt John never used the helm down inside the cabin.

And I got to really like that fly bridge.

It was mostly the visibility — I was at least 10 feet above the water so I could see very well in all directions. I liked the feeling of being outdoors more than indoors — although John did leave the plastic windows down in less than perfect weather so it was never too cold or wet. And I really liked the additional space it offered — a place to hang out, even at a marina, where you could relax and read or write.

And that’s when I started thinking about the R-29 CB model. CB stands for Command Bridge and it’s Ranger Tugs’ version of a fly bridge. It’s basically a duplicate of the main helm with a bench seat. But, as usual, Ranger takes it a step further by adding a second bench seat, a removable table, and the ability to have the two seats face each other. Basically, an upstairs patio. Add a Bimini top or even an enclosure like John’s boat had and you have some useable space in most weather.

Around the same time, I had a conversation with my sister. She’d recently bought a new sewing machine for the quilting work she does. A few years ago, she’d seen this sewing machine but balked at its very high price. Instead, she bought a much cheaper machine. And hated it. Eventually, she just bought the one she really wanted, despite the high cost. Her advice to me about buying a boat was to buy the one I really wanted.

I gave her advice some thought. She was right, of course. I was 61 years old. My home was paid for and I had money set away for retirement. I had a seasonal job that earned me enough money to live relatively well with a lot of free time. Why the hell shouldn’t I buy the boat that was best for me?

So I added another $100K to my budget. But I also told myself that the budget was firm and that the purchase price had to include sales tax and the other expenses of completing the sale.

And then I started looking at boats.

The Candidates

I started looking for the right boat while I was traveling with Capt John this spring. That was a mistake. The market was crazy tight for boats and most R-29 and R-31 models were sold within a week or so of being listed. There was a great one up in Michigan with a trailer that I would have hopped on a plane to go see but it was sold when I contacted the broker.

I noticed that the prices were going up, too. While I could have had Kismet for $250K the year before, I didn’t see anything listed for near that price. And I wasn’t ready to buy anyway. So I stopped looking.

I started looking again when I got back from my trip with Capt John. I even set up notifications through YachtWorld’s website. At first, I included Cutwater boats in my search — they’re made by the same company that makes Ranger Tugs and are very similar. But they seemed pricier and when I got a chance to look at one, it just didn’t seem worth the extra money.

I went to the Anacortes Boat Show in May. I looked at another older trawler style boat. It was a lot cheaper. But I didn’t want an old boat that I had to worry about mechanical, electronic, or structural issues. I wanted a newer boat.

I went to Bellingham to see a few Rangers, including an R-31 CB named Missing Chair. It was a nice boat, in great shape. It had a much larger second cabin and even a second head. I sat in it for quite a while, thinking about how nice it would be to own it. I took a lot of photos. I started seriously thinking about it.

And then, when I got home and started working on my summer job, I realized that buying a boat at the beginning of my work season would be a huge mistake since I wouldn’t be able to do anything with it until late August anyway. So I stopped looking again.

I started again a few weeks ago. The market had softened up. Boats were available for longer. Prices were being reduced. The country was suffering from inflation and interest rates were going up. While I don’t think more folks were getting out of boating than usual, I think that fewer people were interested in getting into boating with the uncertainty in the economy and higher interest rates.

By the end of July, I had five candidates, all of which were 2018 to 2021 R-29 CB models. They all had their own pros and cons.

For example, a boat in Vermont was completely prepped for the Loop with full canvas and all living space equipment. It was actually on the Loop, piloted by an older couple who would apparently stop looping when they sold it. (I don’t think they came with the boat.) The engine had more than 1600 hours on it, though, which I thought was high, and I was turned off by the notion of a boat that had been lived in since new.

Most of the other boats were slightly above my budget, either before or after adding sales tax. That wasn’t a deal breaker — I’m very bad with budgets — but it certainly didn’t score them any points.

And then there was an apparently unnamed 2019 R-29 CB in Olympia WA. It had caught my attention early on because of its low engine time — just 30 hours. When I called the broker the first time, the guy who answered told me that the owners had bought the boat from the factor to fulfill a lifelong dream. Then health issues made it difficult, if not impossible, to use the boat. When I called back more recently, a different broker told me that the owner had sold several boats through their brokerage and that this one had had very little use. He didn’t think they’d ever even slept aboard or used the appliances. It was in like-new condition.

If you know anything about me, you probably know that I hate buying used stuff. I like new stuff, which has no surprises and good manufacturer support. But not being a multi-millionaire, it was not going to be practical for me to buy a new boat — just as I hadn’t bought a new truck back in 2015 — so I was willing to settle for a used one. Still, less used was better than more used. And that’s what attracted me to this boat.

It had some drawbacks. It had no canvas — not even a bimini top, which is an absolute must-have for me. It had a dinghy, but no dinghy motor. It lacked a generator and air conditioning and it might have only two house batteries instead of four. [No, it does have four.] It didn’t have the cockpit steering area, which is an extra that would come in handy for a solo cruiser. I don’t think it has radar, which I don’t need but would be handy to have. [It actually does have radar.]

But on the plus side, it had dual Garmin panels at the main helm. Of course, it had all the great features Ranger includes in all of their boats, including auto pilot, and bow and stern thrusters. And did I mention that the Volvo Penta D4 300 engine had only 30 hours on it? Or that it was red?

Could this be my new boat?

And I’ll admit it: what really sweetened the pot for me was the price. The asking price, plus tax, would keep me within budget. Sure, I’d have to spend some money on a Bimini top and dinghy motor — as well as some cockpit canvas and possibly two more house batteries in the future — but I thought I’d try making an offer that would cover that added expense.

I called the broker, told him I wanted to make an offer, and he emailed me the paperwork.

Wanderlust Pushes Me to Action

In the meantime, I’d written a blog post in my personal blog, An Eclectic Mind, about Wanderlust. It got a bit of positive, encouraging response. One of the responses was from Capt Paul, who said I’d researched things a lot more than most folks starting out in boating. (Wait until he reads this post!) I took that as a complement .

Capt Paul’s encouraging comment turned out to be the little push I needed to actually fill out the form for the boat offer and write the large earnest money check. I scanned them and sent the scans to the broker. He presented the offer to the seller and the seller accepted it.

After years of thinking about it, it looked as if I was in the process of actually buying a boat.

Of course, this is all contingent on financing and the survey. But it looks like this is happening. Stay tuned to follow this part of my Great Loop adventure.